Open Innovation: Researching a New ParadigmHenry Chesbrough, Wim Vanhaverbeke and Joel West, editors

Abstract

The book is an edited volume of chapters for academic researchers about how the new practice of “open innovation” is likely to impact innovation research.

Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm
links the practice of innovation to the established body of innovation
research, showing what’s new and what’s familiar in the phenomenon. It
offers theoretical explanations for the use (and limits) of such open
innovation, and recommendations for future research. It is intended to
help both new and existing innovation scholars pursue their own research
agendas to explain the antecedents, consequences, successes and
failures of open innovation strategies. It would also be of interest to
advanced MBA students and corporate researchers interested in
understanding a much broader view of innovation commercialization.

Research Questions

Most chapters will further elaborate the concept of open innovation
and offer suggestions as to how it could be considered theoretically by
future researchers. Among the sorts of questions to be considered are:

Why the current managerial interest in open innovation? Is this
really a new process or merely a repackaging of existing processes?

How generally applicable are the concepts? Are they limited to particular industries or contexts?

Where and how should researchers study the practice of open innovation?

Some chapters will examine empirical evidence of open innovation practices to consider these questions:

Under what conditions will firms be interested in open innovation?
Under what conditions will such innovation be successful? What are the
limits to possible success?

What are the implications for the boundary of the firm? Does open
innovation fuel the virtualization of the corporate form, or does it
depend on it?

How do such practices affect the firm’s ability to earn a return on
its innovation technology? Are new intellectual property policies or
practices necessary to assure such returns?